Faith and Redemption

I'm watching Ted Kennedy's funeral mass and my heart is so full. Not just in celebration of this one life or this one family, but because I know how fortunate I am to believe.

• I know that public service, politics and government are all noble callings. I know the Kennedys, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama (all of who I'm looking at on my TV right now) chose to better the country, even though they all could have found easier, more lucrative work in the private sector. Yes, I realize that no public servant is perfect and at times believing as I do leaves my heart feeling as bruised as my knee. But it also gives me so much hope and purpose.

• I know that we can change our own lives. I know I can become a better person, a better daughter, a better friend. I have that capacity. As I listen to everyone discussing how Ted Kennedy's love for his second wife Vicki helped him get his life back on track, I know that's possible. It's never too late, it's never over, we're never done ... not until God calls us home.

• I know that true love and soulmates exist. He was well into middle age when they wed. (See bullet above.) Just because I have fallen short in romantic relationships until now doesn't mean it will always be this way. (See bullet above.)

• I know that Jesus loves me and I will be forgiven. Service to man, love and redemption are all part and parcel of God's glory. Within my Unitarian faith I have the framework and reinforcement to worship as I wish, and I am so grateful.

I am a very lucky woman with a full heart. As Ted Kennedy said, "...the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."